Choosing for my 10 year old

[birchbarkcanoe]

My son is an avid reader, and he's stuck to the computer (he reads a lot of the old books on gutenberg).

I want my computer back, and him not in front of the screen.

I also want to go out and have him be able to take his "books" with him.

Happy boy......happy family.

Now, this needs to be not too expensive......he is a boy and it needs to not be easy to break.

Any suggestions?

Sue

[HarryT]

I'd suggest getting something like an older-model Pocket PC or Palm machine - they're available very cheaply on eBay - both of which offer a lot of flexibility when it comes to choice of reading software.

I'd avoid the "eInk" readers; they are expensive and have rather delicate screens; I don't think they'd survive the typical 10 year old very long!

[birchbarkcanoe]

Any brands you could recommend?

Sue

[HarryT]

I can't give you any advice on Palm machines (which I know a lot of people like), but my personal preference is for Pocket PCs. Of those, I've always used HP "iPaq" models, which are extremely well-built and reliable. Any model iPaq would make a good bookreader - in fact, they are what I read on myself for many years.

That is, assuming that your desktop machine runs Windows. Pocket PCs are Windows-specific.

[eimert]

Originally Posted by birchbarkcanoe

Any brands you could recommend?

Sue

Hi Sue,

I bought a very cheap refurbished hp iPAQ rz1710 for my daughter last year (she was 11 then). It is still working well. She is using it in a protective bag - just in case. The 3.5 inch screen is a bit smallish but she doesn't complain. I myself, still read on my Axim v50, which has a slightly bigger screen (3.9 inch) but costs not just slightly more :-(

Cheers,
Klaus

[eimert]

Originally Posted by eimert

Hi Sue,

I bought a very cheap refurbished hp iPAQ rz1710 for my daughter last year (she was 11 then). It is still working well. She is using it in a protective bag - just in case. The 3.5 inch screen is a bit smallish but she doesn't complain. I myself, still read on my Axim v50, which has a slightly bigger screen (3.9 inch) but costs not just slightly more :-(

Cheers,
Klaus

oh, and I forgot - I would recommend the µBook reader program (it's now even available for Palm OS). It copes with almost any format you throw at it (except lit, of course). IMHO, it is well worth the 12 US$. You may want to check it out at www.gowerpoint.com

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by eimert

oh, and I forgot - I would recommend the µBook reader program (it's now even available for Palm OS). It copes with almost any format you throw at it (except lit, of course). IMHO, it is well worth the 12 US$. You may want to check it out at www.gowerpoint.com

I'd second the recommendation. uBook is my favourite bookreader.

[JSWolf]

Could also try an Ebookwise 1150. It's not too expensive.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Could also try an Ebookwise 1150. It's not too expensive.

True. The main reason I suggested a Pocket PC / Palm is that there's all sorts of other "free stuff" for them that would probably interest a youngster as well as the reading aspect of it - games, etc.

[birchbarkcanoe]

My son isn't really into games. He IS really into older books, like the gutenberg texts. Think Tom Swift (i think he's read all that are online, Pony Rider Books, and the list goes on.

I want a dedicated book reader so that I can have my laptop back, lol! And he can take it outside when we travel.

How many books can the ebookwise take? Can it take pdfs? Can it take a 10 year old handling it?

Sue

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by birchbarkcanoe

My son isn't really into games. He IS really into older books, like the gutenberg texts. Think Tom Swift (i think he's read all that are online, Pony Rider Books, and the list goes on.

I want a dedicated book reader so that I can have my laptop back, lol! And he can take it outside when we travel.

How many books can the ebookwise take? Can it take pdfs? Can it take a 10 year old handling it?

Sue

It is fairly rugged but the screen is breakable so it needs some care. It cannot take PDF's directly. They need to be converted. PDF's are a problem for all readers in that they are generally targeted at full paper sizes (letter/A4) and don't scale well to the smaller screens. The maximum memory on the eBookwise is 128M which can hold several hundred books but it is easily updated from a computer to change the books on the device. There are lots of free books on this web site for this reader.

Dale

[JSWolf]

And more as we do more conversions too. And any eBook on the site in Mobipocket format that is not already in IMP format for the 1150 can easily be converted using mobi2imp. In fact, after I create a Mobipocket edition, I use mobi2imp to convert to imp and post.

[birchbarkcanoe]

How about books like the wowio books?

www.wowio.com

Could I change their format?

Sue

If he like drops it from the playground from his pocket....is it dead?

[NatCh]

I think wowio is PDF files, locked ones too, unless I'm remembering something else .... (I haven't ever used them, so I could easily be mixed up)

You can't do much of anything with PDFs, locked ones especially I'm afraid.

An EB1150 is a bit large for a pocket, but yeah, it should probably be kept off playgrounds.

[curtw]

See this thread. I just loved my sony S320. Enough built-in memory for a dozen books, and it will defnitely fit into a kid's pocket. He just has to remember not to sit down with it there.